It is known to provide a retractable cover for covering the load space of the boot of a motor vehicle. These types of covers are provided for hiding items such as luggage disposed in the load space of the vehicle, and also for improving the aesthetics of the inside of the vehicle. The cover is usually housed in a cassette which is mounted behind the rear seats of the vehicle. The cover can be selectively deployed from the cassette and secured at the rear of the vehicle to cover the load space. However, when the cover deploys, the cover can run into for example an item disposed in the load space, as it is not adapted to stop itself before encountering the item. Therefore, in such an arrangement, the cover or the item that the cover has encountered can be damaged during the deployment of the cover. Furthermore, when the cover is in a stowed configuration (i.e. an un-deployed state) it is difficult to manually reach the cover from the outside of the vehicle. Also, the cassette and cover may occasionally be removed from its operative position, but the weight and length of the cassette can make it difficult to stow elsewhere inside or outside the vehicle.
At least in certain embodiments, the present invention sets out to overcome or ameliorate at least some of the problems associated with known load space covering device.